You won’t get rich with these money-generating ideas, but you can take the results to the bank (even if it’s only your piggy bank):
    • Sell photos to stock photo websites. Stock photography sites offer generic photos of landscapes, animals, and other nonspecific subjects to designers and publishers. Go through your travel photos or your pictures of Fluffy, Fido and great scenery, then check out sites like istockphoto.com and shutterstock.com.

• Sell your books. Go through your bookshelves. Are you hanging on to your old college textbooks? Be realistic when setting prices, are you really going to read A Tale of Two Cities ever again? You can sell books online or try a local second-hand bookshop. If you have enough books you can have a garage sale–get your bookaholic friends involved and set up your own book space in the yard.  

• Sign up for consumer focus groups. Corporations and nonprofits doing market research need opinions from regular people. Make yourself available for focus groups, and you could earn $50 to $100 or so for an hour or two of sharing your thoughts and reactions to ideas. And don’t forget those online survey’s,  MyPoints.com is one of the best, your points add up quickly and you are never added to odd lists.

Hopefully, you have been talking to your child about the first day of school and how exciting it will be. Well, maybe not so exciting for you as you dress your little one, holding back tears with a really big grin on your face. Not too big though, kids are smart. For most school starts in September, so you still have a couple of weeks to practice smiling and being cheerful about your baby taking that first step away from the nest.

    Here are some things you and your child can do to he lp make this transition smoother:

Two weeks before

.  Make a cute calendar with countdown days.  Any plain calendar page will do or make your own, show the daya/date and add small graphics; Smilies are fun to use. Try this site http://www.clicksmilies.com/ or check out one that is similar. When you find a site you like, print the page of smilies and let your child cut them out paste on a I’m a Big Girl/Boy calendar. Later you can keep the calendar as a keepsake.

• Start practicing with the alarm clock. Send your kids to bed at their regular school-night time, and start getting them up early. Explain that everyone needs to adjust to a new schedule.

• Practice the school bus run. Describe the bus route for your children, including where the bus goes and how long it takes to get to school. Talk about what they can do on the bus to occupy their time.

• Take a tour of the school. Make arrangements with the school, and show your children their classrooms, the cafeteria, and bathrooms.

The day before
• Lay your child’s school clothes out. With your child, select outfits for the first week so there’s no anxiety about clothes in the morning.

• Pack up the night before. Get your children’s books, lunch money, and school supplies ready to go before they go to bed.

• Send your child to school with a photo. A family photo or a reassuring note in a child’s lunch can help ease separation anxiety.

The first day
• Send a note to the teacher? This is a definate ‘maybe.’ This lets children introduce themselves to their new teacher. Talk about what they like to play and their favorite foods. Make this a short note. Remember, short note. You may want to include a picture. When your childs teacher calls him or her by name, there will be an instant bond.

• Get them on the bus. If your children will be taking the bus to school, don’t drive them the first day, wait with them for the school bus. Help them get used to the trip right away.

• Remember bus numbers. Calm children’s fears by going over the bus number and reminding them that their teachers will make sure they get on the right bus.

   Where is your success? Examine your own ideas about success, then;

Learn to recognize your success. What will your success look like or feel like? Will you be able to recognize it when you reach it? (Trying to keep up with this one or that one is not the way to success.) When you do the best to your ability isn’t that success too? The truth is you can’t do more than you can do.

Define success in your own terms. Forget about other people and their vision of success. Think about what you value, not what others value or say you must or should do.

What do you need to do?  Identify specific things that must be achieved before you reach your own goal. Select one thing that you have already done, and two or three things you can do right now, that will bring you closer to your ultimate success. Then start working on them–today.

Are you close to success now? Take a look at what you’ve already accomplished, and compare your current situation with your position when you started working toward your goals. If you are not closer, maybe you are allowing excuses to get in the way of accomplishment.

After looking at your accomplishments are you closer to your success than you thought?

Kudos.

   A former boyfriend who was a smart and interesting man, probably has a dog-eared copy of Jeff Rovin’s book. He was always the go-to person when bits of odd and often useless information was needed or desired. I have always had a soft spot and much affection for these over-load folks, even if I do scratch my head and wonder how and why they know these things. Take a look at the explanations behind three common expressions that we continue to use today:

Pulling the wool over their eyes. In the 17th and 18th centuries, thieves and robbers would yank their victims’ wool wigs down over their eyes so they couldn’t see who was attacking them.

Blackmail. In 16th-century England, mail meant “rent” or “tribute.” Debts that had to be paid in silver were called “whitemail.” A debt that could be paid in any other way from was called “blackmail.” Blackmail did not have a set value, and the person collecting the debt could collect (or extort) any amount or anything they wished from the debtor.

Red tape. For centuries, it was British custom to seal important documents with red wax and red tape. Cutting through it was the only way to get at the documents and read them.

Quote: Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge. — Kahlil Gibran

     Success usually requires a road map, a strategy, but it also calls for serious drive and commitment toward your goals. Rosabeth Moss Kanter a professor at Harvard Business School suggests testing yourself with these questions:

• Do you feel strongly about the importance of your goal—why it’s necessary to achieve?

• Will you be able to reject criticism and negativity?

• Does your idea match your values and beliefs?

• Is this something you’ve dreamed about for a long time?

• Is your goal vital to the future of people you care about?

• Does your goal get you excited when you think about it and share it with others?

• Is it realistic? Are you sincerely convinced that your goal can be achieved?

• Are you willing to put your credibility on the line for it?

• Can you make your goal the primary focus of your activities?

• Are you willing to devote your personal time—evenings, weekends, vacations—to bring your goal to reality?

• Are you committed to the long term as you work toward your goal?　

Follow Prof. Kanter on Twitter Twitter.com/RosabethKanter

The wrong things are often in the context of a sentence that can get you kicked out of the door.

Career adviser Karen Burns warns employees to avoid these statements:

That is not my job: Don’t limit yourself to what’s in your job description. Be willing to take on any role the boss asks you to (assuming it’s legal and ethical, of course). You can ask your boss why he or she is assigning the task to you, but you’ll improve your career prospects by accepting whatever assignment is thrown your way.

That is not my problem: Don’t let the boss think you don’t care what happens to the company you work for. Take responsibility for fixing things so your manager can rely on you no matter what.

It is not my fault: Ducking responsibility only makes you look and sound untrustworthy. Don’t waste your time, and your boss’s on placing blame for whatever the office or company problems are.  [If you watch television's The Closer, you will know this is similar to the classic SODDI (pronounced sah-dee) defense/excuse; Some other dude did it.] Focus on finding answers and solutions.

I can’t do that–It’s impossible Telling your boss that he or she is asking for the impossible will not endear you to the powers.  You want your boss to believe you can do whatever is required or at least give is a good try. Analyze the task and identify the real problem or goal; then concentrate on overcoming the obstacles.

Visit Karen’s useful and easy to read Working Girl  site and buy a copy of her book The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real-Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use You will be glad you did.

1. Control. Ultimately the only control you have in life is over yourself: your thoughts, actions, responses, and behaviors. Don’t obsess over what you can’t control; concentrate on what you can. 
2. Results. It’s easy to fall into routines and patterns that emphasize the process instead of the outcome. Learn the rules, but apply them with an eye on what you want to achieve. 
3. Gratitude. You’ll stay positive if you remind yourself of what you already possess. Spend some time every day thinking about your health, your family and friends, and the advantages you have, instead of focusing single-mindedly on what you lack.

Find your own “right” attitude (and perhaps a favorite quote) and live by it. I believe that my cat Peggy (or Ms. Peg when I way trying to cajole her) had her own quote, I am guessing but suspect it was, “She’s not the boss of me, I am my own cat!” and she had attitude to back it up. I had to respect that. Way down deep, we’re all motivated by the same urges. Cats have the courage to live by them. –Jim Davis (Garfield creator)

    Some signs to watch for when deciding whether an elderly relative or acquaintance is having problems that need to be addressed:

• Weight loss. If the relative isn’t actively trying to lose weight, unexplained weight loss could indicate difficulty cooking (holding utensils, reading recipes), loss of smell or taste, or underlying problems like malnutrition or dementia. With Alzheimer’s a loved one may forget how to hold a utensil or know what it is. Talk, ask questions. Sometimes heavier seasoning may help to tweak an appetite.

• Overall appearance. Take a good look at your aged relatives’ daily hygiene. Are their clothes clean? Do they bathe regularly, brush their teeth, groom themselves? If not, they could be suffering from depression, dementia, or other health problems.

• Mobility. Muscle weakness and joint problems that grow more pronounced with age can limit an elderly person’s mobility and endanger his or her safety. Do they have trouble walking long distances, or seem unsteady on their feet? A fall can be serious, but a cane or a walker can minimize the danger.

• Lifestyle. Pay attention to any loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy. Do they still participate in hobbies, listen to music, exercise, and socialize with friends? Physical and mental limitations can be compounded if the person becomes isolated at home.

• Emotional balance. Pay attention to moods. Increased anxiety, sudden mood swings, or lack of interest in activities can be signs of depression or other health concerns.

You should understand that you will not always get the truth when asking questions about health, eating habits and such. Casual and unannounced visits may be necessary to find out what you need to know. Also, make it a habit to count pills, if your there were 20 “take two pills in the morning,” on your last visit and 20 pills three days later, something is wrong.

The “mother” of Father’s Day was Sonora Smart Dodd, according to historians. The daughter of a widowed Civil War veteran who had raised her on his own, Dodd came up with the idea when listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. She held her own special tribute for her father on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington. She began a campaign for an official celebration soon after.

President Calvin Coolidge expressed support for the holiday in 1919, and in 1926 a National Father’s Day Committee was formed in New York City to join the campaign. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a proclamation designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day, however, it wasn’t until 1972 that President Richard Nixon officially recognized it as a national holiday.

As with Mother’s Day, the official flower of Father’s Day is the rose: red for fathers who are still living, and white for fathers who have passed away.

See cute article about sit-com dads: A history of TV’s most famous dads